Jewish Family Services (JFS) is excited to announce the purchase of a commercial building at 2929 Commercial Drive to serve as our headquarters and services hub.
After renovations are completed, the 20,000-square-foot building will offer the necessary space and infrastructure for all of JFS’ social service offerings and with the ownership of this building, JFS will finally have a sense of stability after 87 years of frequent moves from one leased premise to another.
The building, to be named in honour of the Roadburg family, will replace the two leased locations: JFS’s head office at 2285 Clark Drive and the JFS Kitchen at 54 East 3rd Ave. The new location, just three blocks from the Commercial-Broadway Skytrain station provides ready access to public transit, which is essential for most JFS clients.
The purchase and a portion of the planned renovations have been financed by generous donations from the following five Vancouver philanthropists:
- Harvey and Jody Dales
- Ben and Esther Dayson Charitable Foundation
- Diamond Foundation
- Al Roadburg Foundation
- Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation
“We are pleased to support the development of the new facility for Jewish Family Services of Vancouver to carry the Roadburg family name,” said Stephen Gaerber, a Director of the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation and past Board Chair of Jewish Family Services. “This provides a long-term solution for JFS, locating JFS’ critical services and administration in a central location near transit and helping ensure more people can get access.”
Services to be offered from the new location will include case management, housing advocacy, clinical counselling, meals from a commercial Kosher-certified Pareve kitchen, care for Holocaust survivors, and a Ukrainian settlement program.
We look forward to sharing more information as it develops.